MHS: William James on Democratic Individuality

Date: 

Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location: 

1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA

There will be a pre-talk reception at 5:30

Stephen Bush, Brown University

There is a $10 per person fee (no charge for MHS Fellows and Members or EBT cardholders).

Register on their website.

William James advocated a philosophy of democracy and pluralism that emphasizes individual and collective responsibility for our social arrangements, our morality, and our religion. In James’s view, democracy resides first and foremost not in governmental institutions but rather in the characteristics of individuals and in qualities of mind and conduct. It is a philosophy for social change, counseling action and hope despite the manifold challenges facing democratic politics, and these issues still resonate strongly today. Stephen Bush explores how these themes connect to James’s philosophy of religion, his moral thought, his epistemology, his psychology, and his metaphysics.